章 411: Chapter 411
"You may go now."
Alana could not believe her ears when, after hours of torture, the first words he spoke to her were to ask her to leave.
She watched him close the book and make it disappear, and he did not even look at her.
Was this it?
Did he just force her to stay sitting by his side for hours only to make her leave now?
She was already on the verge of flipping out, and the death glare that she sent his way, which he ignored as he laid back on the couch and closed his eyes, intensified due to the lack of care he showed.
"Keith!" She shouted his name, and unbeknownst to her, the entire room started vibrating to the turmoil of her emotions until Keith acted and controlled it.
Her heart was now racing so fast and hard that she felt suffocated and her body was shaking as well.
When he finally opened his eyes and looked at her red face, he could not suppress his smile, and this proved to be the last straw as Alana pounced on him.
She straddled him, and then she started beating his chest like a drum, shedding tears and speaking incoherently, failing to even form words at times.
"I hate you... I hate you!..." She told him over and over again until she could not bear her own words.
A few minutes later, she was bawling like a child as she lay on top of him, soaking his shirt with her tears.
"Why do you ignore me...?" She whispered her complaint, but Keith stayed quiet at her question.
Nothing he would say to her right now would make sense to her as her mind was not clear enough.
And she needed to let out all of her pent-up emotions.
Alana was too tired right now, so tired that she did not even want to open her eyes. So, when she felt him wrap his arms around her and start comforting her back, her heart finally felt a little at peace, and fresh, warm tears poured out of her eyes. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.
Keith sighed when he sensed that she was no longer conscious, and then closed his eyes too to get some sleep, but before that, he checked the state of her body as her Special Physique had started manifesting itself now.
It was without a doubt a very terrifying Physique, and at the same time, one of the hardest to master.
"It's fine." He spoke, and his dear daughter, who was a little curious about what had happened earlier, having sensed the sudden vibrations, returned her focus to her work.
When he woke up the next morning, he found Alana still lying in his arms. But her body was a little stiff, and even if her acting was perfect, he could still tell that she was awake.
"Good morning." He greeted her and then playfully started tickling her side, eliciting giggles from her before she escaped his arms and then tried to control her emotions.
"You don't care about me!"
She tried to muster up some anger again at him but failed and only ended up with more tears in her eyes.
"If I did not care about you, you would already be dead by now. Your failure to get over Yexuan's death makes you a potential threat to my family." He still smiled at her, but his words chilled her heart, and she felt cold.
His words were ruthless, but she needed to have some things very clear in her mind.
Alana lowered her head, not knowing what to say to him after his cruel words. And even if he had admitted that he cared for her, she found herself unable to shake off the fear that was creeping into her heart.
"Do you want to know the truth?" He knew what she wanted and needed to know but would likely never raise the question.
"Yes."
"I killed him with my own hands." He told her. "And he was no longer your Yexuan."
Alana frowned at his words and clenched her fists, raising her head to look at him.
"Why did you kill him?" She finally asked.
For some reason, she always felt like Keith had not killed Yexuan because he had killed Samrath. She had a hunch that there was a lot more to it that she was unaware of, and she wanted to know the whole truth from him now.
"Because he was a danger to my family, and he held ill will towards us." He sighed and stood up, stepping forward and looking right into her eyes. "The reason why he was no longer your Yexuan was because the soul inside his body had changed."
"What?" Her eyes quivered at his words as she made sense of them.
"Yes." He nodded. "The one who occupied your brother's body was Yexuan Parker from a future timeline, who had killed himself to come back in time using a very powerful treasure. And he held animosity towards me and my family. It was also the reason why he no longer looked at you as his sister. Maybe the reason was that you were more than just adoptive siblings in the timeline he came from." He speculated, allowing her mind to run wild and think things through on her own.
He was manipulating her, but he was not lying to her.
Keith left Alana standing there as he walked inside the dressing room.
Since he had decided to keep her by his side, Keith was not going to lie to her about Yexuan. He was, of course, going to keep some things to himself, but it was for the best that she knew most of the truth.
Lying to someone whom you planned on keeping by your side forever was unwise.
In the long and eternal life that they were going to spend, the truth could come to light at any time as there were several ways this could happen. Keith did not want any future complications between him and the people he cared for.
When he returned to the room, Alana was no longer there. She had returned to her own room and closed herself again.
However, Keith was no longer going to allow her to be stubborn about this matter.
"Alana." He knocked on her door once and called out to her, and she opened the door only a few seconds later.
She did not say anything and just stood there with her head lowered, and there were fresh tear stains on her face.
"Go, freshen up. You will have breakfast with me and then I will train you with the kids."
Alana opened her mouth to excuse herself but realised that he would not listen to her, so, she just nodded and entered the dressing room, returning a few minutes later, wearing a tracksuit.
It was very early in the morning, and it was just the two of them and the four kids who were up for their training session. Unlike last night, they were all surprised to see Alana join them for the meal.
"Good morning!" Harud greeted her cheerfully, and Alana nodded to him with a smile before she greeted him and the rest.
She thought that he would train her in a similar manner to that of the four of them, but Keith made her sit under a tall tree and asked her to watch the sparring sessions.
"Your training is to observe their combat styles and then point out the flaws that you find in them. You need to find three flaws in each of them, and with every flaw that you get wrong, you will be punished later."
"Do they even have flaws?" She frowned after hearing his words.
"They have plenty." He nodded to her, but Alana had a hunch that she would be in for a lot of punishments when the day was over.
However, it was not as boring as she had expected it to be. And once she started concentrating, she found herself hooked on watching them battle.
Alana did not know why, but even when sitting dozens of meters away from them, she could still sense the force behind their attacks, and they were not even using their Auras offensively.
She winced a little when Keith's seemingly light kick connected with Harud's blocking arms, and she was not surprised when the boy gritted his teeth, and his entire body trembled once he stabilised himself and got back to his feet.
The session was over before she knew it, and it was only when Keith told her that they would return to the Castle that she realised what time it was.
"So, did you find any flaws?"
"I am not sure." She shook her head.
"Tell me what you have observed." He smiled at her words and then asked her to speak about her findings.
"Ruru holds back against her brother, and Riku does the same against her. They, however, do not hold back against Harud and Roy but still tend to avoid their faces and heads."
"It is because their instincts make them go after the heads of their enemies, and both Roy and Harud are considered friends by them."
Alana was a little surprised at his words and nodded her head before continuing to tell him about what else she had observed.
"They generate most of their force from their legs, and if they do not get the time to balance themselves, their attacks are not even half as powerful."
"Most people do." He nodded. "But yes, I will count that as a flaw."
She smiled as she got one right and then continued with her observations.
"Their bodies are flexible enough, yet they try to take hits head-on. They would do much better if they utilised their flexibility more and focused more on deflecting the attacks."
She had been paying attention to the lessons and training she shared with the rest of the girls, so it was an obvious flaw in the Hubo Twin's style that she picked up on.
"Yes." He nodded again. "Most Monsters have issues with pride, but the two of them have been getting better."
She frowned a little at his words but tried her best to not get distracted.
"Finally, they like working as a pair rather than a squad with Harud and Roy."
"Yes." Keith nodded again, and Alana brightly smiled as she got three right. "Now, Roy."
"Roy is weak, yet he tries to be careful with their attacks. It is almost as if he does not wish to hurt them even if it is training, and this results in him getting more beat up than he should have."
"He's compassionate." Keith nodded. "And?"
"He's too defensive."
"It's because he is weak. On his part, it is smart." He shook his head and Alana reprimanded herself in her mind for not thinking it through and realising that she was in for a punishment later.
However, now that she thought about it, most of the weaknesses Roy had were because of his lack of strength, and he did not really have much of a choice but to remain defensive.
"He's prideful."
Keith smiled when he heard her words and then curiously looked at her, meeting her eyes.
"He does not care about his body and pays no heed to its limits, trying his best to compete with Harud, and lasting as long as him in fights."
"I will count it as a flaw." He did not say anything more and then asked her to tell him about Harud.
"He's a show-off. Just like you." She smiled.
"Not a flaw." He shook his head.
"It is!"
"No..." Keith denied and Alana decided that she would not rest until he admitted it as a flaw.
By the time they arrived for lunch, having changed their clothes, everyone was already waiting for them at the table, and they all smiled when they saw them chatting, even if they were arguing.
"You are a show-off!" Alana angrily told Harud, and the boy looked at her dumbfoundedly, not sure what this was about.
"Where did that come from?" He frowned, and soon he was arguing and bickering with Alana, and Keith was amusedly eating his lunch.
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